Originally Posted by
obrentharris
Good question!
We woudn't have to reach back to the fifties. The folks I rode and raced with in the seventies, those who are still riding, mostly ride modern bikes. Some also have a vintage bike or two.
On the other hand there are a couple of fellows on the Classic Rendezvous list who raced in the fifties and are very dedicated to their vintage bikes.
Brent
A good comparison! And it does come down to riding style and interest in the machines, certainly... The little weekly magazines I read from 1950s Britain were mostly written by and for people who took their modern gear seriously at the time, including racing and touring types. They are full of advertisements for all the latest gizmos and gadgets that antiquarians now would drool over, but which collectors and purveyors of old things would have scoffed at even then, surely.
My uncle's let me borrow both of his old steel racing bikes over the years when I was low on rides or just wanted something extra to fool around with. He kept them around for some reason, and also restores classic cars and builds model RC WWII aircraft and generally loves old things, but he scoffs at the idea of riding an old bicycle nowadays. He's on a couple year old carbon Eddy Merckx with full Record-11 these days.
I didn't really have the pandemic and masks and actual time travel in mind when I wrote this post last night... I'm sure nearly all the British folks who lived through the bombings of the war and rationing (which was still going on in 1950 for many commodities) would only laugh to think that we're fretting nowadays over some closed shops and having to wear masks. Based on how the pandemic is going for my friends in England, those people'd be turning in their graves!
-Gregory